Answer replies and handle STOP

When someone texts your number back, the whole conversation lands in the inbox. Whoever is on the desk sees every conversation. Nothing is assigned to a person. There is one list to empty.

Open Email & SMS, then SMS, then the Inbox tab. The inbox needs a laptop or desktop window. On a phone it asks you to use a larger screen. Until your number is live it says No texting number yet.

#Read the inbox

At the top, three counts: Unread, Waiting on response and Conversations. A line shows who is answering right now: your team, the AI, or nobody.

The left list is The queue:

• Waiting on response. They wrote last.
• No reply yet. You wrote last and heard nothing for up to seven days.
• Undelivered. Your text did not arrive.
• Opted out. They texted STOP.
• Everything.

Use Search a name, a number or a message to find one. An empty queue shows Nothing in this list. That is what it is for.

#Answer

1. Click a conversation.

2. Type in Write a reply… and press Send. The line under the box says Sends as and your name.

3. When nothing more is needed, press Mark handled. It leaves the waiting list. Close puts the conversation away, and a new text from them opens it again.

4. To leave a message for your team, press Leave a note. Only your team sees a note. The customer never does. Notes are saved with Save note.

On the side you see What they agreed to (Order updates, Offers or Nothing yet), What it's about, and Who answers this one: Automatic (the AI answers only when the desk is closed), AI (the AI answers whatever the clock says) or People only.

A reply goes through the same carrier check as any text. If it names a product, an amount or a health claim, a box says This cannot be sent as written. and the text does not go.

The reply box is switched off, with a sentence, when:

• the person opted out: This person opted out of texts — replying is not allowed.
• sending is paused for your brand: Sending is paused for this brand — nothing leaves the desk. Incoming texts still arrive.
• your role can read but not send: You can read this inbox but not reply.

#Set who is on the desk

Open Settings, then Text message, then Sender preferences.

• When your team is on the desk. Set opening and closing times for each day, then Save hours. Reset to the usual week goes back to Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. A bar shows how much of the week your team covers.
• AI replies. Tick Let the AI answer when nobody is on the desk. It answers from your FAQ and nothing else, and its replies are marked AI. It never gives medical or order-status answers; those wait for a person. Pause the desk — nobody is on is for a day off.
• What the AI is allowed to say. Add answers about your shop: delivery time, returns, payments, how to reach a person. Never product descriptions or how a product is used. The AI cannot be switched on until you add one answer: Add your FAQ first — the AI has nothing to answer from.
• Slack alerts. Paste a Slack channel address, press Send a test, and optionally tick Ping Slack on every text.

Under Terms, HELP replies holds the way someone reaches a person. The carriers require it.

#What STOP, START, HELP and YES do

Carriers require us to honour these words, in any capitalisation and with punctuation.

• STOP (also STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, OPT OUT, REVOKE). The person is opted out of marketing texts at once. We reply: [Your name]: You are unsubscribed and will get no more texts. Reply START to rejoin. Their conversation moves to Opted out. Order and delivery texts are unaffected.
• Plain sentences such as "stop texting me", "remove me" or "take me off" count as STOP too. The conversation is also flagged for a person to look at.
• START (also UNSTOP, OPT IN). Marketing texts resume, and we confirm. Only the person can do this, by texting your number. A friendly "sure, sign me up" does not, because on a toll-free number the carrier needs the word START.
• HELP (or INFO). We reply with your name and the contact you set under Terms.
• YES (or Y, CONFIRM). Confirms a cart-reminder opt-in when one is waiting. Otherwise it is read as an ordinary reply.

Anyone who opted out cannot be sent a marketing text by a campaign or a flow.

#If it didn't work

• A reply did not go. Look for the carrier-check box, or the opted-out lock.
• The AI is not answering. Check the AI is ticked, you have added an FAQ answer, the desk is not paused, and it is outside your hours (in Automatic mode).
• "Open the inbox on a larger screen." Use a laptop or desktop.
• Someone says they never got your STOP reply. Our confirmation is sent as a normal text. If the carrier blocked the number, email support@aminoengine.com.